Practical household cookery

These wild-fowls are all drawn, trussed, and roasted in the same style as roast pheasants, before a clear fire for about a quarter of an hour, and then served with quarters of lemon, cayenne pepper, and gravy separately. 684w SALMI OF WILD-DUCK. Pick, draw and roast a wild-duck for a quarter of an hour, as described in No. 683. When cold, cut it into small joints; take off the skin; trim the pieces and put them in a stewpan ; put into another stewpan the trimmings and bones with half a pint of claret, four shalots, a small "bouquet garni," an onion with three cloves stuck in it, two pinches of salt, and a small one of cayenne. Boil this down to half its quantity, then add one pint of Espagnole sauce, and reduce it to a nice consistency, after which pass it through a tammy over the pieces of wild-duck; Warm the salmis without boiling, squeeze the juice of half a lemon ; toss up the contents ; dish up the pieces of bird in the usual way, pour the sauce over, garnish round with croûtons fried in butter, and serve. 685. WIDGEON, HOUSEWIFE'S STYLE. Roast two widgeon. When done, cut them in small joints and put in a stewpan with a quarter of a pound of red-currant jelly, half a pint of port, and the juice of a lemon ; season with salt and cayenne pepper ; simmer with the pan partly covered for seven minutes ; then dish up, pour the sauce over, garnish with croûtons cut and fried in the usual way, and serve. 686. SALMI OF WIDGEON OR TEAL. Pick, draw, and truss two of these birds for roasting; place them in an earthen dish, strew some thinly-sliced carrot and onion, parsley, thyme, and bay-leaf about them, season with salt, pepper, the juice of a lemon, and a gill of salad oil; let them thus marinade for twelve hours, taking care to frequently turn them over. Twenty minutes before serving, run them upon a skewer, place the vegetables, &c., upon their breasts, wrap in two sheets of oiled paper fastened on with twine, tie them on the spit at both ends, and set to roast before a clear fire for fifteen minutes. When cold, cut into small joints in the usual way; put the trimmings, and the gravy that has run into the pan from the birds, into a stewpan with four shalots, two cloves, a blade of mace, thyme, and bay-leaf, together with half a pint of claret and some mushroom trimmings; season with salt and pepper; boil for five minutes; then add half a pint of brown sauce or good broth; stir the sauce over the fire till it boils, then draw it by the side of the stove to clear itself ; skim it ; boil it again for ten minutes ; then pass it through a tammy sieve over the pieces of wild-fowl into a stewpan ; set them to warm without boiling. When I'eady, dish up in a pyramidal form, pour the sauce over, garnish round with fried crotitons, and serve. 687. SALMI OF WATER-HEN. Draw, truss and roast before a brisk fire, for a quarter of an hour, two water-hens. Cut them in four, pound the trimmings and carcases, and put them into a stewpan with two tablespoonfuls of salad oil, an ounce of butter, half a pint of claret, salt, pepper, the peel of a lemon, and half a pint of good gravy, as well as the gravy dropped from the birds into the dish. Simmer the lot for half an hour; dish up the pieces of wild fowl in the usual way ; squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the sauce, pass this through a pointed strainer over the dished fowl, garnish with fried croûtons, and serve. CHAPTER XVI. HOT AND COLD MEAT PIES — PUDDINGS^ GALANTINES AND POTTED GAME. 688. BEEFSTEAK AND KIDNEY PIE. Cut two pounds of beefsteak (top side or thick flank) into scollops three inches long bj two wide, and flatten these slightly with the cutlet bat. Cut also six sheep's kidneys, or the half of an ox-kidney, into slices a quarter of an inch thick ; season the lot well with salt, pepper, and a little